Absolute beginner with this but fancy giving it a go

Alright fellas,

Always been into my striking (boxing, thai) and never really wanted to take part in grappling, submission fighting or anything like that. I lived in cheshire and there wasn't anywhere near me that offered legit BJJ training so i passed it up. I now live in Lancs near Blackpool and Preston and there seems alot of intrest in submission fighting around here. Now, how long would it take an absolute newb to get to competition standard? Do they even allow new students to fight ? Would BJJ be the right path or would traditional jiu jitsu be wiser to start in ? Or even judo ? Any advice much appreciated as this is new area for me and I am clueless!! Im not getting any younger and want to try it I dont really see myself going down the MMA route as im too old and work would not really approve however I would like to compete in any type of grappling competition just basic level, so time frame would help. Id aim to train 2-3 times a week in what ever art people on here think best and I will keep a blog to chart my progress (or lack of !)

If you want to compete either BJJ or Judo is a much better bet. "Traditional Jiu Jitsu" varies a lot, but the vast majority don't compete and can't fight.

If you're in decent shape already and pick it up fairly quickly 6 months in is a reasonable time for your first competition IMHO. BJJ or no-gi competitions are split up by experience or belt level, so you'd be facing other newbies.

Thanks for the reply mate. So traditional jiu jitsu is not worth trying ? I know BJJ is alot more technical than jiu jitsu but is this purely in terms of the complex ground game of BJJ? Like I said i'm clueless in this area. My fitness is pretty good at the minute so just looking tp start but I want to start down the right path. Judo worth a consideration ? Thanks again

Thanks for the reply mate. So traditional jiu jitsu is not worth trying ?

If what you want to do is compete, probably not. They'll mostly do "self defence" one steps rather than sparring and the ones that do spar won't be as good as BJJ players.

Originally Posted by UltimatePunch

I know BJJ is alot more technical than jiu jitsu but is this purely in terms of the complex ground game of BJJ?

More that BJJ schools spar and compete and most TJJ ones don't. Legit BJJ schools are also part of a community that will recognise rank and compete against each other, whereas even the occasional good TJJ school is kind of operating in a vacuum.

Originally Posted by UltimatePunch

Like I said i'm clueless in this area. My fitness is pretty good at the minute so just looking tp start but I want to start down the right path. Judo worth a consideration ? Thanks again

BJJ and Judo are pretty similar, except that Judo focuses a lot more on throws and BJJ a lot more on submissions (also BJJ tends to do no-gi and is linked to MMA, which Judoka mostly don't/aren't). If there's more than one decent club you can get to I'd try them all out and see what you enjoy.

The best thing to do is pick a club, buy a gi and go for it. You might not like it but I always think new guys should just get stuck in and not overthink it. If you wanna compete there will be ample opportunities for this in BJJ. It's a long road, the quicker you start walking the sooner you'll get there.